As someone who sings at wedding ceremonies, I admittedly want to roll my eyes at the demanding bride who thinks she knows exactly what she wants. I often want to say to her, “just let me do what I do best and I promise it will be beautiful.” Sometimes I wonder if that’s how my doctor felt when I handed over my birth plan. Was he thinking, sure lady, demand all you want, but I know how this will really turn out? Read my full post

When I was asked to write about my experience with breastfeeding for National Breastfeeding Month, I only assumed that the reason I was being asked was because it was presumed that I had a wonderful experience. I seem to be, after all, offering the crunchy mom perspective on New Orleans Mom’s Blog. I encapsulated my placenta, I had an unmedicated water birth attended by a midwife, I cloth diaper, so naturally, I plan on breastfeeding exclusively until my baby self-weans, right? Read my full post.

For any woman who plans to birth their baby without medication, my best advice is to prepare yourself both mentally and physically and surround yourself with an amazing support team. At the guidance of a friend who had had two successful unmedicated births, I chose to do Hypnobabies which is a self-paced hypnosis course. She actually said, “I don’t know anyone who has done the course who hasn’t been successful with a drug free birth. No pressure!” I bought the books and hypnosis CD’s and listened to them nightly. I hired an amazing doula to guide my husband and I though the process of labor and birth. I read positive birth stories often. I worked out regularly, and I fueled my body with healthy foods. Read my full post.

Okay, okay… so I didn’t have my husband grill my placenta in the back yard and serve it up on a Tuesday night, but I did consume my placenta. Why? First, let me say that I’m a self-proclaimed “crunchy” mom, meaning I had a water birth attended by a midwife and a doula, I cloth diaper, I use coconut oil as diaper rash cream, and…oh yeah…I ingested my placenta. Before you cast all the hippie stereotypes upon me, I’d like to add that I have a full time job working in corporate America, I don’t own a single piece of macramé clothing, and I have never driven a Prius (although, my first car WAS a VW bug!). Read my full post.

Throughout my life, I’ve always considered myself to be relatively physically fit. I played soccer in high school, and I ran the occasional 5K race, but I never cared for the traditional gym scene. I never knew what to do, and I never saw results from my own routine. I tried other things like boot camps or home video programs, but I always dreaded working out and usually came up with an excuse not to. Then, 4 years ago, I discovered CrossFit. My husband and I had heard a lot about it, so we decided to take a free class at the local gym. Little did I know my world would be changed forever. Read my full post.